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40. They object, eighthly,
AND THEIR REFUTATION. 119
the text :
" But
of that day or
time, no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but the Father" (Mark, xiii, 32). So, say they, the Son
is not omniscient. Some have answered this, by saying, that the
Son did not know the day of judgment as man, but only as God;
but this does not meet the objection,
since we know from the
Scriptures, that to Christ, even as man, the fullness of knowledge
" And we saw the glory, the glory as it were, of
was given :
the only-begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John,
i, 14) ; "
and : again In whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge" (Collos. ii, 3). And St. Ambrose (10),
treating of this point, says :
" How
could he be ignorant of the
day of judgment, who told the hour, and the place, and the
signs, and the causes of judgment." The African Church, there
fore, obliged Leporius to retract, when he said, that Christ, as
man, did not know the day of judgment, and he at once obeyed.
"We, therefore, answer, that it is said the Son did not know the
day of judgment, as it would be of no use, nor fit that men should
know it. This is the way in which St. Augustin explains it. We
are, therefore, to conclude that the Father did not wish that
the Son should make known the day, and the Son, as his Father s
Legate, said in his name, he did not know it, not having received
a commission from his Father to make it known.
41. They object, ninthly,
to the exclusion of the Son :
that the Father alone is called
Jesus said to him :
good,
" And
Why callest thou me good? None is good but one, that is God"
(Mark, x, 18). Christ, therefore, they say, confesses that he
is not God. St. Ambrose (11) answers this. Christ, he says,
wished to reprove the young man, who called him good, and still
would not believe he was God, whereas, God alone is essentially
good ; it is, says the Saint, "
as if our Lord should : say
do not call me good, or believe me to be God."
Either
42. They object, tenthly, that Christ has not full power
over all creatures, since he said to the mother of St. James and
St. John :
" To sit on my right or left hand, is not mine to give
you" (Matt, xx, 23). We answer, it cannot be denied accord-
(10) St. Ambrose, /. 5, de Fide. c. (11) St. Ambrose, /. 2, de Fide. c. 1.
16, n. 204.